Alistair Darling used Labour’s last Budget before the election to carry out a
£19 billion tax raid on the middle classes to help pay Britain’s record debt.

Just weeks before the country is due to go to the polls, the Chancellor warned the well off that they must pay their “fair share”.

Such is the scale of public debt, which Mr Darling forecast would rise to £1.4 trillion in the next five years, he was unable to announce substantial tax breaks or giveaways aimed at attracting voters.

Instead, he was forced to reveal a series of measures that would raise money. These included:

The Chancellor used his hour-long speech to set out what would be Labour’s strategy for an election campaign, focusing on persuading voters that Gordon Brown had successfully navigated Britain through the worst of the recession.

But the Conservatives branded it the “empty Budget”, with key decisions being delayed until after polling day.

“The Chancellor spent half an hour talking about helping business, but the fact is he is raising £19 billion of extra taxes,” said David Cameron, the Tory leader.

“They want to tax your car, your phone, your business, your jobs. These are the ticking tax bombshells timed to go off the day after the election that will destroy our recovery.

“Instead of more waste, more spending, more taxes, what this Budget needed to do was ease the burden on our families and businesses and let enterprise flourish.”

Over the next four years, the Chancellor said, the Government would find £57 billion to help reduce the deficit, including £19 billion from tax measures such as freezing the threshold for income and inheritance tax and imposing a higher 50p rate of tax on high earners.

The rest would come from cuts and savings in public spending but the Tories criticised Mr Darling for failing to explain where the cuts would fall and demanded that more detailed proposals be published before an election.

Whitehall’s plans to find £11 billion of savings, which were published shortly after Mr Darling had finished speaking, were judged by experts to be insufficient. Critics also pointed out that ­government spending would ­actually rise by more than 2 per cent in real terms over the next year.

Mr Darling told MPs he was standing by his forecast that the economy would grow by 1 to 1.5 per cent this year. However, he slightly downgraded his prediction for next year to 3 to 3.5 per cent compared with the 3.5 per cent he had previously predicted.

Even so, his latest forecasts were judged to be over-optimistic by most independent experts.

Mr Darling’s strategy of targeting the rich prompted criticism that Labour was seeking a return to the politics of class warfare but the Chancellor said the decisions were taken for sound economic reasons.

“We have not raised these taxes out of dogma or ideology. We are determined to ensure our overall tax regime remains competitive,” he said. “But I believe those who have benefited the most from the strong growth in incomes in past years should now pay their fair share of tax.”

He said the wealthiest 5 per cent would provide 60 per cent of the revenue from new taxes. The Conservatives have confirmed that they would not reverse the tax increases for well-off Britons if they formed the next government.

Savers received a boost, with the tax-free threshold on ISA savings accounts rising to £10,200. Motoring groups welcomed a £100 million fund to help repair potholes.

Mr Darling offered some measures to help business and announced that rates would be cut for a year from October. He promised to provide a £2.5 billion package to support economic growth, with help for small businesses and certain industrial sectors.